Honeywell Emergency Amateur Radio Team

Honeywell Emergency Amateur Radio Team

MEETING

Date: Thursday, September 28, 2017

Time: 5:30 PM

Place: Minnreg building

Subject:Formal meeting.

Agenda:Old business

Secretary’s Report

Treasurer’s Report

FGCARC Report

HEART Renewals

Tower grounding

New business

Contribution to Minnreg for our use of facilities, establish annual contribution.

Planned future meetings and events:

Thursday October 26, Heart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

Saturday Oct. 28, UPARC Free Hamfest at Palm Harbor United Methodist Church, 1551 Belcher Road.

Saturday November 11, SPARCFest, at Freedom Lake Park, Southeast corner of US 19 and 49th Street

Thursday November 30, Heart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

December 8 – 9, West Central Florida Section Convention, Plant City, at the Florida Strawberry Festival

Thursday Jan. 25, Heart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

Thursday Feb. 22, Heart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

February 9-11, Orlando Hamcation, Southeastern Division Convention, Central Florida Fairgrounds

Please mark dates on your calendar, as you may not receive another notice before meeting.

Suggestions for locations and times of future meetings are welcome.

August Meeting Minutes

The August 24, 2017 HEART Meeting convened at 17:58. Present were: Jim Hansen, Alan Gilbert, Bill Williams, Jim Wedlake, Carlos Ibarra, Mat Bush, and guest Terry KF4DDY, and Mike KD4CZT. No treasury report. Secretary’s report: Report was read and approved. FGCARC report: Contract for Tampa hamfest rental contract is signed. All dealers are returning. Lots of tailgate space. There were no renewals. Repeater Enhancements: Echolink is running perfectly thanks to Alan and Carlos. Repeater tone will be changed to 141.3 to avoid interference from another repeater on the east coast. New business: The question as to when we last payed Minnreg for the use of their facility for our meetings was discussed, but differed to a future meeting when George Shipley attends. Discussed adding the 220 frequency agile link to the repeater, but there doesn’t appear to be enough interest at this time. Meeting adjourned at 18:52

HEART Homepage

Check out Alan Gilbert efforts at

HEART Meetings

The HEART meetings are generally held on the fourth Thursday of the month in the Griffin room at the Minnreg building located at 6340 126th Ave in Largo, FL 33773-1820. There are no meetings in June, July, or December. However, since the November meeting conflicts with Thanksgiving, it is moved to the following Thursday which sometimes lands in December. In the event of a booking conflict with the Griffin room we find an alternate located within the Minnreg building, such as upstairs or the main hall. Following the meeting we generally go to either Frankie's Patriot Barbecue at 19 and Ulmerton or Sonny's Barbecue on Park Boulevard or for a bite to eat.

HEART Renewals

The following should be up to date. Let me know if any changes are required. Dues are $12 for full members and $6 for associate members (unlicensed). Send checks, payable to HEART, to George Shipley at 9776 131st Street North, Seminole FL 33776-1640.

HEART MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
PAYMENT
HOMEARRLLASTNEXT
NAMEPHONEEXT.COLM.S.Mem.CALLDATE$DATEEmail
Hansen, James424-13224825Q-9U519-4YWDØDIA01/171201/18wdØdia@ tampabay.rr.com
Mat Bush452-42004679YKA9RIX04/161203/17
RETIRED/Outside Honeywell
Bobczynski, Dan723-33414995P-14U804-4YKG4HNS03/171201/
Gilbert, Alan392-7998 NK04CR01/171201/
Shipley, George*595-3180 YW4OGQ01/171201/
Wedlake, Jim397-5143 YKD4MZL04/171201/
Williams, Bill813-837-3833YAG4QX03/171201/
*TREASURER0
Licensed Member Dues $12.00, Unlicensed Member Dues $6.00 Annually. Payable In Advance. Make Checks Payable To HEART!

ARRL Membership

I encourage everyone to maintain membership with the ARRL. With politics being what it is today it’s important that maintain unified representation to maintain our amateur radio privileges. If you’re not a member of the ARRL. If there are any questions you may call me during the day at 539-4825 or my cell phone, 727-424-1322.

EchoLink®

EchoLink® is running on the HEART repeater (443.050 +, Tone 103.5).

For those not familiar with EchoLink, the system is used to connect the repeater to the Internet using Touch-Tones. This allows you to contact, and be contacted by, other stations all over the world. The hardware consists of a remote 440 Mhz radio, a desktop computer, and a controller.

Feel free to use it and experiment with it.

Using Echolink -- NOTE: If the following does not work, it may be because:

•EchoLink is not running at the time -- for instance, during T-storms. Please try again later.

•EchoLink is not decoding the Touch-Tones properly. This could be due to a noisy signal into the machine, tone levels, or other factors.

Here are a few ways you can use EchoLink.

1. TEST your mobile radio or handheld's ability to connect to EchoLink.

•Identify, then transmit the following Touch-Tone sequence: #9999 (Note: The pound sign (#) unmutes the tones so they will pass through to the Internet.)

•If the tones are decoded properly, you will hear EchoLink announce that it is connecting to a Test Server.

•After the announcement, make a voice transmission. The server should play your audio back through the repeater.

•To disconnect from the Test Server, transmit the pound key twice # #

•If your tones were heard correctly, you will hear EchoLink say "Disconnected". If not, try transmitting # # again.

2. LISTEN on the HEART 443.050 repeater. Hams from all over the world occasionally connect to our repeater. You can talk to them simply by transmitting on your mobile, handheld, or base radio.

3. INITIATE A QSO with an Amateur Radio friend who either operates on another EchoLink repeater, or has EchoLink installed on his home computer.

•EchoLink stations have a unique Node Number. Ask your friend for the Node No. of his station, or the Node No.of his local EchoLink repeater.

•Then simply transmit a Pound Sign (#) plus the Touch-Tones for the Node Number into the HEART repeater to connect to the distant station or repeater.

•You should hear EchoLink say "Connected", plus the callsign of the other station. (If the other station is not running EchoLink at that time, you will hear "Not found".)

•If the other station or repeater is not busy, make your contact.

•To disconnect at the end of the QSO, transmit # #. You should hear EchoLink say "Disconnected".

EXAMPLE: For practice, here's a local EchoLink repeater you can connect to -- the WD4SCD two meter machine in Largo. The Node No. is 155568.

This is the procedure:

•Identify, then transmit Touch-Tones #155568. You should hear the EchoLink connect sequence. (If EchoLink is not running on the WD4SCD repeater at that time, you should hear EchoLink say "Not found".)

•If you get a connect, listen for traffic. If not busy, you can transmit a general CQ if you like.

•To disconnect, transmit # #. You should hear EchoLink say "Disconnected".

4. SET UP A SKED with friends who have EchoLink. They can connect to the HEART repeater over the Internet and give you a call.

•For friends who have EchoLink set up on their home computer, they can connect to WD0DIA-R.

•If they are connecting through another EchoLink repeater, they can input our repeater's Node No.: 385591.

5. DOWNLOAD EchoLink on your Smartphone (Apple or Android). Run the app and, after registration, find WD0DIA-R in the station list. Experiment with connecting to it (and other stations). You can also download EchoLink on your home desktop or laptop from this website: You can then connect to WD0DIA-R from your computer and call a local friend, or transmit a CQ.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS9/28/17

October 13 & 14MelbourneFlorida State Convention/Hamfest at the Auditorium, 625 Hibiscus Blvd., Talk-in on 146.25/85, INFO: Jim Long, 1110 Emerald Road SE Palm Bay, FL 32909, Phone: 321-327-2647, Email:, Web:

Saturday Oct. 21New Port RicheyGCARC Hamfest at Millennium Academy, 10005 Ridge Road, Talk-in on 146.670, Info: Chris Bloxsom, AA4CB, 34383 Arbor Street Ridge Manor, FL 33523, Phone: 727-484-8099, Email: , Web:

Thursday Oct. 26Minnreg buildingHeart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

Saturday Oct. 28Palm HarborUPARC Hamfest, Free hamfest at Palm Harbor United Methodist Church, 1551 Belcher Road. Time: 8 A.M to noon. Talk-in on 147.120, PL 100. INFO: Andy Miller , KJ4FEC, 2656 McMullen Booth Road, #211 Clearwater, FL 33761, Phone: 727-488-4297 Email: , Web:

Saturday Nov 4LakelandLakeland ARC Hamfest, The Revolution Church of Lakeland, 7315 Kathleen Road, Lakeland, FL 33801. 7:00am to 1:00pm. Admission free, tailgate $5, Contact Kevin Rought, N4KWR, 9145 Evans Pass Polk City, FL 33868, Phone: 863-393-4336, Email: , Web:

Saturday Nov 11Pinellas ParkSPARCFest, Free hamfest at Freedom Lake Park, Southeast corner of US 19 and 49th Street. Starts at 7 A.M. Talk-in on 147.060 INFO: Ed Erny, NZ1Q, Email: , Web:

Thursday Nov 30Minnreg buildingHeart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

December 8 - 9Plant CityWest Central Florida Section Convention, Plant City, at the Florida Strawberry Festival Grounds in the Agricultural Show Center, 2508 W. Oak Avenue, 33563. Tailgate open 1 PM to 6 PM Friday and 8 AM-4 PM Saturday, Talk-in 145.410 (PL 131.8), Web:

2018

Thursday Jan. 25Minnreg buildingHeart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

February 9-11OrlandoHamcation, Southeastern Division Convention, Central Florida Fairgrounds, 4603 West Colonial Drive, Tickets $13 in advance, $15 at door. Talk in 146.760 (no PL) and D-Star 146.850. Hours on Friday are 9am to 6pm, 9am to 5pm Saturday, and 9am to 2pm on Sunday. All the information at or call 407-841-0874

Sat February 17BrooksvilleHamfest at Sand Hill Scout Reservation, 11210 Cortez Blvd.. Talk-in on 146.715, INFO: John Nejedlo , WB4NOD, 813-838-5432, Email: ,

Thursday Feb. 22Minnreg buildingHeart meeting, 5:30 PM, Minnreg building, talk in on 443.05

Saturday Feb. 25Winter HavenTECHCON, Formerly known as the West Central Florida Section Technical Conference, Polk County Emergency Operations Center, 1890 Jim Keene Blvd., Winter Haven, FL 33880, Talk-In: 146.985, 444.625, 443.900, or 444.950 (PL 127.3), Public Contact: Darrell Davis, KT4WX, 6350 Mills Road Fort Meade, FL 33841, Phone: 863-245-9923, Email: eb:

Sunday March 3Zephyrhills ZAARC Hamfest at St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church, 5855 16th Street, Info: John Leahy, KK4ITX, 3513 Aquamarine Way Zephyrhills, FL 33540, Phone: 813-843-8454, Email: , , Talk-in on 147.135

Saturday May 26Pinellas Park Wormfest 2009, Freedom Lake Park, Southeast corner of US 19 and 49th Street. Free, park opens at sunrise, Talk-in on 146.850 - and 442.625 +, both with PL 146.2, INFO: Bill, AG4QX, 3215 West Tambay Avenue, Tampa, FL 33611-1539, phone: (813) 837-3833, Email: ,Web:

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